He spent 17 years at Chelsea before leaving the club earlier this year. But his long-term vision for his future career path is clear. An England under-17 international, his playing journey was curtailed in part by a series of concussions but he found a new passion in coaching.
He has coached FA Youth Cup winning teams at Chelsea, competed in Europe and worked with some of the best talents in English football. Now 39, he wants his departure to be the catalyst for the next step - and he has clear ideas about football. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Brand is a product of Chelsea in terms of how he sees the game, but the flexibility of that philosophy is interesting.
It is about playing winning football. "I would not be happy if we had 73 per cent of the ball and lost without creating anything," he explains. He knows the words that they want to hear at interview - and he can deliver that.
"High-intensity football, with and without the ball, possession-based but with a purpose." And yet, the lesson of his time at Chelsea was to help the players find their own solutions. "I want to my teams to press with intensity but intelligence." That means players smelling the game for themselves sometimes too. "If football was that robotic, no one would watch it.
You have got to have players who can make decisions," he argues. "With the ball, I am not one of those coaches who says, 'this is my philosophy and I do not stray from it.' That is stubbornness. You should be stubborn around culture.
But stubbornness around playing style? There are too many variables. "It all goes back to my Chelsea education.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
